Now that you've decided to run the Comrades you’re going to need to equip yourself with the proper resources. The most important resource you need will be knowledge. The more you can know and learn about running the Comrades, the more you increase your chances of finishing. One very helpful site filled with invaluable information is Also Ran Runners. I have gone through every page of this site and have not regretted one word I've read here. It’s a great community based site with everything you could possibly need to prepare yourself for running the Ultimate Human Race.I will be sending out informative emails as regular as possible with information that should help you in your journey to Comrades. I encourage you to share your own experience and knowledge with the rest of us, either through email or the Comrades chat (coming soon!).Right now, you should be looking at how you will be training come January 1st. It’s only a few weeks away! This email will focus on training programs. Apologies for the length of it!Training ProgramsEveryone is so different, some people follow a program religiously while others just hop on the program of whomever is available to run with that day. You need to do whatever works for you. There is no one recipe for guaranteed success. Saying that, a good training program can be an invaluable tool to prepare you for Comrades. When you get to that starting line come end of May, knowing you have completed the training required to conquer the challenge ahead of you is a huge confidence booster and of immense comfort.No, I do not have one program that I hand out to all ARD Comrades runners. If I did that, I’d be setting you up for failure. Everyone runs differently, has different needs and different goals. You need to think about what you want, what you want out of your experience and what you can give to the process. I will give you links to the most popular training programs and a brief rundown of each but it will be up to you to decide what will fit into your life best.Don OliverThis is my personal favourite program. I’ve used it as the basis for my training for each of my comrades. It has a very high success rate, even in 2013, people who prepared with this program still made it to the finish. I believe this program combines a number of important elements that not only train you physically but also mentally.

There are monthly objectives to achieve each month – these are mini goals that once achieved give you a boost of confidence and a push to continue on training. Every month the Also Ran Runners website is updated with that months training schedule, plus the monthly objectives. You look forward to these monthly updates which include very valuable information on how to go about your training that month, how you should be feeling, what you should be doing on and off the road and what you need to start preparing yourself for in the future. Also, it helps you build your own program. You know what has to be done so you can structure your runs to fit into your life.

You run 6 days a week – this is a huge mental strengthening exercise. I’ve noticed that those runners who train 5-6 times a week perform much better on Comrades day than those who train 4 days a week even if they have amounted the same total mileage. It is guaranteed you are not going to want to run at least 2 of those 6 days and the ability to shut down that voice telling you not to run will be paramount come Comrades. You should be so well practiced at ignoring that negative the urge to not run that you don’t even notice it anymore. Come Comrades, there won’t be anyone, even yourself, telling you to stop moving forward.

Running 6 days a week has another benefit. You will run your LSD on the 6th day meaning you will run your entire LSD on tired legs. This is super helpful come comrades. You not only become accustomed to running on tired legs, very helpful come 70km’s, but you also vastly increase your endurance.3. The runs in the week are relatively short – most of the week runs are 8km’s. It is so much easier to go out for a run when you know you will be done within an hour then if you had to be on the road for 90minutes or more. It’s all psychological but it does make a difference. Of course, as long as you are meeting the monthly objectives you can schedule your runs however you like. I know last year we did a number of 15km’s in the week. This meant we only had to run 6km the next day and who can’t do that? Easy peasy.4. There is a standard bronze program as well as a Bill Rowan program for the more speedy runners.5. There is no speed work. The fact that Comrades can be finished at a slow pace (avg 8min/km) makes speed work not only unnecessary but risky. Since you have to be training so much, you do not have the time to recover from overly strenuous quality sessions. Saying that, by the last month of training you should be able to comfortably run an 8 km at 6min/km. This program is designed to train you to run a 4h20 Peninsula as well as a sub 6 hour Oceans. I’ve personally never done that and still finished Comrades comfortably but if you want to perform good times for your runs it is still possible. The key here, though, is that it should be a comfortable pace. You cannot afford to take 3 days off, even from Oceans, to recover from an overly ambitious run. Lindsey Parry ProgramsThese programs are so popular probably because they are endorsed by the Comrades Marathon. You can find them here. There are 4 programs, Finishers, Bronze, Bill Rowan and Silver. You only run 4 days a week in the finisher program. LSD’s are split over both Saturday and Sunday. As someone who is only able to run one day a weekend, this program is not compatible with my life. However, if you have trouble fitting in runs during the week but your weekends are available it might be worth checking out. There is speed work involved in this program and it is important that you do not give more than 80% in these sessions. You cannot afford an injury. Also, I would suggest you take Parry’s recommendation and cross train on at least one of the rest days (I’ll send out another email on cross training later on).Parry also compliments these programs with the Webinars. You can sign up for these on the Comrades web site. There is some really great info given here but you don’t need to be on this program to gain from it.Coach Marshal’s ProgramAnother great program especially if you are a speed runner. As someone who runs fairly slowly, I cannot manage to get the necessary mileage in for this program. If you are able to do it, though, you will be well prepared for race day.There are more programs out there (Runners World has a few) but these are the most popular among ARD. Please do share your experience and any information you may have with the rest of us. I have not been running very long and always look forward to hearing from more experienced and knowledgeable runners.ResourcesSome very informative sites. I have not had a chance to read through all the info provided here so do share what you learn!Also Ran RunnersComrades WebsiteRunners World Comrades Training ProgramsRunners World Training ResourcesARD Website (specifically the videos)This is just one humble runners opinion. Please do share your experiences in the comments section.